Bread-cutter



UNITE *STATES ATENT FFICE.

M. CHAPMAN, OF GREENFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

BREAD-CUTTER.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 19,238, dated February 2, 1858.

T o all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, MATTHEW CHAPMAN, of Greenfield, in the county of Franklin and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and Improved Implement or Device for Cutting Bread; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical section of my improvement, taken in the line (as) of Fig. 3. Fig. 2 is also a vertical section of the same, taken in the line (y) (y) of Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is an inverted plan of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

This invention consists in the employment or use of a rotary knife and bed, in connection with a stationary hopper and platform arranged as hereinafter shown and described, whereby bread may be cut or sliced with great rapidity and in a neat or perfect manner.

To enable others skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invent-ion, I will proceed to describe it.

A, represents a circular platform secured at any proper height, and B is a vertical shaft which passes through the center of the platform and has a beveled gear wheel C, on its upper end. The shaft B passes through a socket (a) attached to the platform; the hub of the wheel C, resting on the top of the socket, and forming a support for the shaft.

D, is a pinion which gears into the wheel C; this pinion is placed on the inner end of a horizontal shaft E; said shaft being fitted in bearings (b) (o) on the platform A, and having a crank El, on its outer end.

Through the platform A, a square or rectangular opening F, is made; and an upright board (c) is placed at the sides of this opening, which opening forms a hopper as will be hereinafter shown.

T o the lower end of the shaft B, and be- -low the platform A, a hub or boss (d) is placed permanently, and to this hub or boss a knife G is attached. This knife is formed of a flat plate of steel made of curved form, as shown clearly in Fig. 3, so as to give (as the shaft rotates) a drawing cut; the cutting edge of the knife being designated by (e), and the arrow 1 indicating the direction in which the shaft B rotates.

On the shaft B, and below the hub or boss (CZ), another hub or boss (f) is secured by a set screw To the hub or boss (f) a flat bed H is attached. This bed is of segment form as plainly shown in Fig. 3, and is secured to the shaft B, so as to be opposite the knife G.

The platform A, may be constructed of wood, and also the bed H. I do not confine myself, however, to any particular material for any of the parts; the knife G, however, must necessarily be of steel.

The operation is as follows The loaf of bread to be cut or sliced, designated by I, and shown in red, is placed in the hopper or opening F, and rests either on the knife G, or bed I-I, as one or the other must be underneath said hopper or opening. The shaft E is then rotated by turning the crank El, and at each revolution of the shaft B, the knife G cuts a slice from the loaf. As each slice is cut and as the knife passes from underneath the loaf, the latter drops on the bed H; and as the knife again comes around, it cuts a succeeding slice from the loaf; the thickness of the slice depending on the distance between the knife and bed; and as the latter may be adjusted on the shaft B, the thickness of the slices may be regulated as desired. The slices drop down immediately,

as they are cut from the loaf, so that the device cannot become clogged. It may therefore be operated rapidly and perform its work in a perfect manner.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

The rotating knife G, and bed H, placed on the shaft B, when used in connection and arranged relatively with the platform A, and hopper or opening F, so as to operate substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

M. CHAPMAN.

`Witnesses ALMoN BRAINARD, WM. ELLIOT. 

